Nightmare
by WhisperToMeSoftly
Summary: Light is having a nightmare...and L isn't sure what to make of it. No pairings, not yaoi. Short oneshot.


AN: This isn't yaoi, and this isn't LightxMisa. This is while Light doesn't have his Death Note, and he's handcuffed to L.

**Light may seem a little out of character, but I tried to make it clear that he doesn't have nightmares often, and the fact that he's having one now disturbs him. **

**This scene just popped into my head one day. I felt the need to write it down. **

**Tell me what you think of it?**

He looked strange, sleeping. One hand lay curled under his head, and his legs were bent beneath his body. His back was to L, but that didn't matter too much. He could still see muscles in his face twitch, his lips move slightly…

Yagami-kun was having a nightmare.

L, taking his usual _unusual_ posture in his chair, peered at Light with his head tilted to one side. Words kept escaping the chief's son, but only a few of them were intelligible. L focused on those words, piecing them together, watching Light's face, trying to decipher this sleeping enigma.

Exactly what was he dreaming about?

They were in two separate chairs, facing the plethora of screens that had been installed. Each one held different images—but none of them really mattered at the moment. (_All he had to do was wait…)_ And so L, his head still tilted to one side, slowly reached out an arm and poked Light's shoulder with a finger.

He shifted slightly in his sleep. L tried again—and again.

Poke. Poke. Poke.

Light awoke suddenly, his eyes bleary. "What?" he said blankly, blinking several times. "What is it? What's happened?"

"You were having a nightmare," L said simply.

"Was I?" Light replied, rubbing one eye and sitting up. "I don't remember."

"Really." It wasn't a question. "I thought you would."

"You don't always remember your dreams."

"That's what I've heard."

Light glanced at him. "Do you always remember yours?"

"I don't have them."

"You're kidding."

"I am? I wasn't aware."

"Never mind."

The long chain connecting their wrists jangled slightly in the silence that followed, as Light looked intently at the screens, and L looked intently at Light.

"How did you know I was having a nightmare?" Light asked softly. L tilted his head the other way. He hadn't heard him use that tone of voice before. It sounded almost…disconcerted. Disturbed. He wondered if Yagami-kun had ever had a nightmare before—he didn't seem like the type.

"You were speaking in your sleep. And twitching."

He chuckled softly, looking down at his hands. "What was I saying?"

"Much gibberish," L replied, reaching for his tea. "I caught a few words, and manage to piece together a few sentences… 'Don't let her go'… 'I know you do, I know you do' (You said that one a lot.)… 'I shouldn't have let him'…"

L watched Light's reaction throughout. He only saw a real response with the first quote: Light flinched. It was only a little bit. He didn't move too much. It was more of a muscle spasm, somewhere near his shoulders. But it was there.

He had too much self-control to let L see his reaction to the others.

"They aren't ringing any bells," Light said with a sigh, leaning back in his chair. His face was so placid, so calm, L almost believed him for a moment. He _would_ have believed him, if he didn't know him so well.

"Strange," L said, unruffled. "Because they seemed to fit so well with the name you said at one point."

"A name?" The blank innocence on his face was the pinnacle of acting. L couldn't help but feel a sort of admiration for him.

"Yes…I believe you once said 'Misa'. And wouldn't that fit with the rest of the phrases I heard?"

Damn. This boy was a phenomenal actor. His career in the spotlight would have been something to see.

"Misa?" Light repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Well, certainly she has sort of a nightmarish aura about her—"

"You're worried."

"I beg your pardon?"

Perhaps there was something, something behind those eyes. He couldn't hide everything.

"Worried. About Misa. We sent her in there pretty unguarded."

"Well, I suppose. But she can handle herself."

"Then why were you having nightmares about what would happen to her if she were caught?"

Light glared at him. "Who said I was having nightmares about her? You don't know what you heard."

"To the contrary."

Silence reigned once more.

"Do you love her?"

"No." And L knew it wasn't acting. (He was getting good at this game.) "But…she loves me. I can't help but feel responsible for her." He looked away slightly. "It's…unnerving, when someone will do anything for you. Will do anything just to give you more, just to give you something better. I don't…I don't want anything to happen to her just because she'll do anything for me. Then it'd be my fault."

"Not directly," L couldn't help but say, although he was fascinated.

"I'd feel responsible," Light said simply, firmly. "Like I told you, I don't want anything to happen to her."

"But you don't love her?"

"No."

"I don't think she realizes that."

"I don't think she does either."

Unintentionally, unplanned, both investigators let out a long sigh.

"We haven't heard from her yet?"

"No, Yagami-kun. I will let you know as soon as we do. You should sleep."

"Shouldn't you sleep too? I'll stay up."

"I've lasted since May. I can last longer."

"_MAY?_"

"Does that surprise you?"

"…No, I guess it doesn't."

"Sleep, Yagami-kun. Misa will be all right."

"I _know_ that!"

"I just wanted to prevent any more nightmares."

"That's not exactly how it works."

"Then how does it work?"

"Never mind. I'm going to sleep."

"Good night, Yagami-kun."

"Good night, Ryuuzaki."

As his partner fell asleep in his chair once again, L was left to sip his tea, and wonder at the complex connections that bound human beings together. _Strange, to care for and not to love…_


End file.
